Then he heard a guy say he just got $450 for some old guns at the buyback.

Twenty minutes later, Callihan arrived at the armory, collecting his own $200 — actually $200 worth of Kmart gift certificates — after city police officers checked out his two pistols.

Allentown conducted annual gun buybacks for a time in the 1990s, resuming the practice in 2012. People parting with their weapons must show proper identification, and on-the-spot computer checks ensure that each donated item was not reported stolen or used in a crime on record.

Though it's unlikely anyone who has used a gun illegally or has stolen one would participate in such a program, the buyback ensures that the weapons won't be involved in accidents or used in crimes.

"They get destroyed," said police Capt. Tony Alsleben, who administered this year's program with a host of other officers.

The usable metals are melted down for re-use, he said.

"A lot of the guns we see are old, often hand-me-downs from parents or grandparents, and sometimes they're no longer functional," Alsleben said.

Still, many remain operational, he said, and often "people just want to get them out of the house."

Callihan inherited his pistols from an uncle, and once had planned to have them back in working order.

"But I just didn't have the time to do it," he said.

He heard about the gun buyback at the right moment, deciding to get rid of the weapons.

A small group of men lingered on the Allen Street sidewalk in front of the armory, seeking to cut into the city's business, as it were, by offering to buy collectible rifles from prospective donors.

It's all on the up-and-up, the men said. But with 30 minutes remaining in the buyback period, they had made no purchases.

The city offered a $100 gift card for each working handgun or rifle, a $25 certificate for each non-functioning gun, and a $10 card for BB guns.

Why bother paying even $10 for a mere BB gun?

A man who turned in one of the 13 BB guns collected Saturday said the $10 gift card certainly didn't serve as his prime motivation. Rather, he thought his rifle-style gun, clearly more than a toy, might be dangerous enough in the hands of children.

In all, police collected 63 rifles and handguns and 13 BB guns Saturday, Alsleben said. That surpassed last year's 41-gun, nine BB-gun tally, but fell short of the 75 guns netted in 2012.